The Platinum Jubilee weekend has brought more than £1.2 billion into the UK economy, London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan has reported.
Speaking to LBC, Khan was asked about the cost of the event, given the present circumstances. Presented Tom Swarbrick asked: “Does anything about the cost of this event over the last few days sit uncomfortably with you given the times we’re in?”
“Not at all,” the Mayor said, insisting that many companies had paid for the Jubilee pageant. “Visit England have said they’ve seen bookings over the last weekend meaning that’s contributed £1.2 billion towards our economy.
“It’s really important that we have a V-shaped recovery and this is the catalyst we needed to have that recovery. Really important after the last two and a half years.”
The Queen makes an appearance at the Platinum Pageant on the final day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Estimates suggest more than 2 million tourists came to the capital for the weekend and contributed more than £1.2 billion to the economy
He also shared that estimates suggest more than 2.6 million tourists had descended on London for the celebrations from the UK and abroad.
“In the West end alone, they’ve [tourists] spent more than £80 million.
“People from across the globe who’ll have seen the images this weekend will book to come this summer, later on this year, supporting our city’s recovery, so it’s great news all around.”
Sadiq Khan also commented earlier on that the weekend has ‘given us that spring in our footstep, a reason to feel good’ and that ‘all of us are smiling, we’ve had a great three days’.
